Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 902: The Stolen Guide

Chapter 902: Chapter 902: The Stolen Guide

The people still alive in W18 gave off a sense that wasn’t benignant, like stagnant water, everyone seemed to be living numbly, simply not dead.

"Absolute hopelessness looks like this, huh? Quite miserable," Shangguan Xi muttered softly.

His words earned them a rather unfriendly glance from the young man, who sternly led them to the dormitory building’s seventh floor and knocked on one of the doors, "Teacher Ai, I’ve brought back two guests."

After knocking a few times without response, the young man’s face changed and he quickly moved the potted plant in front of the window, reached in to open the latch, and then climbed inside.

A few seconds later, the young man came running out the door, "Teacher Ai has been kidnapped!"

Xu Huo tilted his head and peered into the room, a very typical living scene, only the chair in front of the desk was somewhat special.

"What happened?" Shangguan Xi looked around, "There are no signs of a struggle."

Without lingering to talk, the young man dropped a line, "Teacher Ai has mobility issues, he wouldn’t leave his wheelchair without good reason," and ran downstairs to notify the other original residents to search for Teacher Ai.

Teacher Ai was a person of significant importance here; all the original residents collaborated to scour their dwelling place, even finding the underground passages, but they discovered no traces whatsoever.

"If he was taken hostage by a player, no matter what you do, you wouldn’t find him," Shangguan Xi said, "Has there been any stranger here recently?"

The young man had been outside during the last few days, so he hurriedly asked others. Eventually, a child around ten years old provided a clue; yesterday evening a player had come asking if anyone was from W19 Base here. The child, being cautious, said nothing. Later, the player seemed to casually speak a few words to him and, feeling sorry for him for not having good food to eat, gave him some food.

Children could listen to the adults to not reveal anything about what’s inside the protective net, but they couldn’t withstand multiple tactics from the players; maybe the child didn’t even realize what he had disclosed.

"Was Teacher Ai a resident of W19?" Xu Huo asked.

"Teacher Ai fled from another base city to W19, and after W19 was gone, he then came to W18," the young man explained angrily. "Those people definitely knew he was familiar with the terrain, so they captured him to lead the way."

"I’m a bit puzzled," Shangguan Xi said to Xu Huo, "Can’t they buy a map? Why must someone lead the way?"

Ordinary people are one thing, but for players, even if the wilderness environment is a bit harsh, it shouldn’t be too dangerous; following a map shouldn’t be a big issue.

"Our main goal is to save time on the road," Xu Huo said. "Consider how many players there are for only three samples."

The instance issued them wristbands that probably wouldn’t locate the live samples until they entered W19. Even if they wanted to form a team, they had to get the samples first, or how would they clear this round?

"Then we’re doomed!" Shangguan Xi slapped his thigh, "If someone gets off at Base W19 directly, aren’t we at a huge disadvantage!"

"Then we’ll steal," Xu Huo calmly stated, then asked the young man, "Does Teacher Ai know about the underground passage leading out of the city?"

There are many nests of Flying Variants on the protective wall of the safety base, so the best way to leave without startling them is via the ground or underground.

The ground, of course, isn’t safe either, especially when carrying someone with impaired mobility, so under normal circumstances, everyone would prioritize the existing underground passageways.

The young man’s expression confirmed that indeed there was a passage out of the city, but he was reluctant to reveal it to outsiders.

"You can lead us," Xu Huo said. "The terms we discussed earlier haven’t changed."

He didn’t elaborate further, but gave the young man some time to think.

However, the young man didn’t hesitate for long and said, "I can go without food, but you have to save Teacher Ai!"

"I need him to lead the way, so of course I hope he’s alive," Xu Huo said. "I can only assure you that I won’t harm him."

That was enough.

The young man quickly nodded, explained briefly to his family, and then prepared to lead them to the entrance of the underground passageway.

Upon leaving, Xu Huo handed the young man’s mother a bag of rice and a bag of frozen vegetables—genuine rice and vegetables.

"Why would you bring these things?" Shangguan Xi looked shocked, "Bringing some compressed biscuits would be better than this."

"Compressed biscuits lack nutrients," Xu Huo seriously explained, though it sounded a bit like a joke.

Shangguan Xi stared at him for a moment before managing to say, "Do players even need to worry about nutrition?"

Their eyes met, both feeling that there was no need to delve deeper into the discussion.

A few minutes later, the three entered an underground passage through a sewage entrance two hundred meters away from the protective net.

W18’s underground passage had undergone special modifications, resembling more of a labyrinth; a junction could connect to more than four branching paths, not only leading forward, back, left, and right but also downward.

"This is absurd, how can an exit passage go underground..." before Shangguan Xi finished speaking, the young man promptly jumped down, landed below, then turned back to explain, "The horizontal tunnels don’t necessarily lead out, they might end up as dead ends."

Xu Huo signaled for him to stop talking and follow.

The two followed the young man through numerous twists and turns until they saw him suddenly stop, lower his voice excitedly: "Teacher Ai chose this route as expected!"

There were traces of someone having passed through the upcoming set of junctions, although others had as well, but the young man seemed to recognize marks left by Teacher Ai.

Eager to find Teacher Ai, the young man quickened his pace. Yet, after moving forward a bit, a trap suddenly appeared—hidden weapons camouflaged against the walls of the passageway, which Shangguan Xi, with his quick reflexes, managed to block before triggering the poison gas ahead!

"Utterly heartless!" Shangguan Xi exclaimed. "With the underground passageways so interconnected, poison gas is bound to spread everywhere. This dosage isn’t enough to kill players, they completely leave no way out for the original residents."

The young man pressed the gas mask Xu Huo had provided and plunged headlong into the poisonous fog.

Although the traps left by the people ahead were trivial, they were more than sufficient to handle a few ordinary individuals; eventually, Shangguan Xi stopped the young man and took the lead, having him just give directions.

"Young friend, let an experienced brother give you a piece of advice—keep the green hills, and you won’t worry about firewood. I know you’re anxious to save someone, but fervor alone doesn’t grant you a halo of protection. If you rush forward and get killed, not only will you not save anyone, they won’t even collect your corpses. Why bother?"

"Besides, the marks left by your Teacher Ai were definitely not meant for you to come rescue him. You’re no match for a player with that small frame of yours; he just wanted to tell you which way he went. Going forward is just delivering yourself to them—it’s better to guide us properly."

The young man, with eyes as dead as a fish, looked at him, "Others are players and you are too, why do you talk so much?"